Expect something macro and something micro.
The macro? The September Jobs Report will be released on Friday morning before the financial markets open. . Economists expect a weak tally of 50,000 job additions and the unemployment rate to hold steady at 4.3%. With investors and traders pricing in a 90% chance that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again by another 25 basis points at its October 29 meeting, I’d say the risk is that the economy will have added significantly more than that 50,000 estimate. That seems unlikely–which is why the risk is in a stronger than expected report.
The micro? Auto sales, auto sales, auto sales. During the first few days of the week we’ll get reports of deliveries from Tesla (TSLA), Nio (NIO), XPeng (XPEV), Rivian Automotive (RIVN), Li Auto (LI), ZEEKR Intelligent (ZK), Polestar Automotive (PSNY), and Lucid Group (LCID). Plus quarterly sales reports from General Motors (GM), Ford Motor (F), and Toyota (TM). Tesla is probably the most important report in this group. Investors will get to see if the company’s sales, especially in Europe, continue to crater. Tesla doesn’t report earnings until October 22 and those results are expected to be ugly. According to Zacks Investment Research, the consensus EPS forecast for the quarter is $0.36. That would be a significant drop from $0.62 a share in the year earlier quarter. The delivery numbers reported this week will be an early indicator on how bad the October earnings report is likely to be.
